Reunions, Plans, and a little Valentines
by Inspirationbynight
Summary: So where did Demona head off to in a hurry? A bet with the Puck, Are you crazy? Owen's Valentine's gift and plans... Fic 5. Editings!....lots of editings . Sorry for the long wait. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

Reunions, Plans, and a Little Valentines

by Inspirationbynight

A.N. /.../ --means not in English. This chapter takes place during February of 1997. Fic #5.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gargoyles, Greg Weisman does as does Disney and Buena Vista, etc.

Reunions, Plans, and a Little Valentines

by Inspirationbynight

Demona checked herself over as she was in the habit of doing after transforming back to her true form. Lily watched with reserved amusement, having taken the form of a young Latina woman in service to Dominique Destine before they had left the United States.

"Alright, what are we doing here?" Demona asked impatiently, waving at the base of La Malinche.

"We're looking for an opening," the disguised fay replied, holding up two flashlights. "A secret passage way. Despite the centuries, the marker should still look like a gargoyle's head."

Giving Demona a challenging look, the two females began searching around the base with care.

Flashback

Aztec Empire 1518, Early Morning.

Pushing her hip-length black hair behind her, the Aztec woman raised her brown arms towards the nests of gargoyle eggs. /"I apologize for the delay in your hatching/," she whispered.

Her black eyes glowed an eerie green and that same green flashed as a blinding light for only a few seconds. The rest of the palace help was fortunately busy with the preparations of greeting who they thought was Quetzalcoatl returning.

/"But tonight is not a good night to greet the world."/

/"Sacnite! Witch, where are you?"/

The dark woman turned towards the grating male voice with disdain. The rookery was not a good place to be found. As quietly as her sandals would allow, Sacnite left the rookery and its inhabitants.

A few hours later...

/"To the Temple of the Moon! Crack one egg and the gods will rewrite your birth into one of the Unlucky Houses!"/ Sacnite ordered to the group of men who were carefully loading wagon. Sacnite fingered the string of colored feathers that decorated the collar of her sleeveless shirt, a habit she developed when she first took her mortal roll among the Younger Race.

Once the eggs were set to travel, Sacnite pulled aside one of the young men that guided the load.

/"I will meet you in the temple at dawn,/" she whispered gently in his ear.

Pretending to adjust the blanket-like top around one shoulder, the short-haired youth answered/"You have not been wrong before, Priestess, but what if Queztalcoatl has returned?"/

/"As you have said, I have not been wrong before/," Sacnite said with a slight narrowing of her eyes. /"Montezuma no longer believes the Guardians are of use, but the gods themselves placed them before us."/

The youth nodded, not daring to speak himself for fear of Sacnite's wrath more than being made as a gift to the gods. /"I will see that all is ready."/ He left quickly to catch up with the traveling load, looking back to see that Sacnite had disappeared.

/"Stop!"/ Sacnite cried out to the invading pale men. One with a musket, actually hesitated before returning to his chipping at the stone form of a 'demon'.

/"What is she babbling about Hernan?"/ Beardless asked his musket-hammering friend.

/"Most likely how we are taking the gods away from them,/" Hernan answered without pausing this time. /"Ignore her and finish the job."/

But Hernan's beardless friend had been replaced by an Aztec. Hernan looked around for his companion before his eyes fell on Sacnite. /"What did you do witch?"/ Then two Aztec-looking men stood in the room. Their faces expressed the shock and horror of the other's condition before they ran out of the room babbling incoherently.

/"Let the fate you spread take you with the first wave,/" the raven-haired magic-user wished them before surveying the ruined room. Her hard demeanor softened as she took in the site of the stubbed gargoyle the invader's had not finished. /"Forgive me,/" she whispered. With glistening eyes she pushed the ruined gargoyle's form onto the floor.

Present

"I've found it," Demona claimed, gliding down to Lily. They walked a rocky distance, having split up to cover more ground.

Lily aimed her flashlight at the spot Demona indicated and studied the worn out rock. Checking her wristwatch, Lily nodded to Demona and stood back. There was still plenty of night left.

Aztec Empire, 1518 Nightfall

Savage roars exploded throughout the palace without warning. The guards stationed near the throne looked at each other in silent question as to what had made the sound.

/"Weren't the foreigners supposed to take care of them?"/ one spear-wielding guard asked.

/"Supposedly,/" another guard agreed.

Inside the room, Sacnite pleaded for the leader Cuauhtemoc to flee. /"This invader has already gained the alliance of the other tribes. The people are turning to them to avoid being killed, if the invader tells them to hunt you, they will! Think of the eggs!"/

/"Where are they?"/ asked an elder black female who resembled a snake.

Quickly, Sacnite told them what she had done and how she had come upon the foreigners destroying them on Montezuma's orders.

The former gargoyle leader also named Montezuma, shook his head in anger and shame. He placed his dark brown taloned hand on Cuauhtemoc's fern green shoulder. /"We will lose the eggs as well if we try to take vengeance now. We have already lost family and our beasts."/

Cuauhtemoc's bushy yellow tail lashed out behind him. /"We must secure our way to the Temple."/ He began to order the rest of the clan into flanks when Aztec guards and invaders alike began to pour into the room.

Screams. Fire. Blood. Men falling from the sky. Gargoyles stuck through with spears and tiny rocks the invaders called bullets. That was the deciding factor. Invisible at the speed they were fired and fired by trained men to use these strange and terrible weapons.

/"Itotia!"/ a breast-plated yellow-gold gargoyle cried out in pain.

The butterfly-winged gargress fell from the sky with an accompaniment of arrows.

/"Chimalli!"/ Sacnite and two other gargoyles cried out to the distraught male. Sacnite fired a simple blasting spell to the ground in front of the shooters, sending earth and rocks into their sight while Chimalli's rookery siblings turned him back on course. The spell, on top of the previous work Sacnite had done that day was beginning to take its tole on her.

/"We must hurry to the Temple/," she told the red-orange female gargoyle who carried her. /"Curse this body..."/

/"The eggs must be placed elsewhere/," a beaked gargoyle male commented on Sacnite's left. /"If they are still there."//

"Don't even think it Eztli! Sacnite would not have left them in bad hands."/

/"The priestess I trust/," the blue-green beaked gargoyle said/"it's the humans I doubt."/

/"This is the last one/," Cuauhtemoc announced, gently setting the spotted egg securely deep inside the mountain's hollow spot.

/"Then you and the rest are all that is left/," Sacnite told the night-worn leader. She reassured him with a confident stance and a firm voice. /"You and the others will awaken when this is over."/ She did not have to explain what 'this' was. /"Then when you tell me you are ready, I will awaken the eggs."/

Cuauhtemoc's red-orange mate stood beside him and announced that the clan was ready. One by one the gargoyles situated themselves within the crypt Sacnite had created for them until only the former leader and present leader stood outside.

/"I do not know when it will be safe, but I will return for you."/ She held out a gold disc, reminiscent of the calender but small enough to fit in her palm and with the face of a nondescript gargoyle. /"This is what I will present to you, along with the history of how I came to find you."/

/"And how did you find us Priestess ?"/ Montezuma asked.

Sacnite smiled. /"I never left."/


	2. Chapter 2

Present

Once the stone skin shells lay on the sandy ground and the roars died down, Lily vaguely wondered if they had been heard in the nearby towns when a tall form stood before her. She noticed Demona had taken to hiding in the shadows.

/ "Who are you?"/ the fern green male gargoyle asked Lily.

/ "My name is Lily. Once you called me Sacnite."/ replied the Hispanic woman.

He did not seem to be fazed by her comment and proceeded with his questions.

/ "What happened to the people?"/

/ "They are long gone. Their descendants live scattered about like leaves in the wind."/ she replied, tossing her wavy black hair behind her shoulder.

/ "How did you find us?"/

Lily pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of her thigh-long coat. Unwrapping it, she showed the gargoyle the golden disc by the light of her flashlight. /"I never left, Cuauhtemoc."/

/"Priestess!"/

The only warning Lily had before she was tackled and crowded by the younger gargoyles before the elders joined with more calm that was due at their age but with no less the enthusiasm. She clasped wrists lastly with a crocodile-faced male before pointing to the shadows with her flashlight.

/ "I brought company. I hope you are not angry."/ "Demona, do you want to meet them or not?"

Demona stood and walked forward with purpose, holding her flashlight to the ground. Lily made introductions, translating back and forth the clan's questions once they knew Demona knew of the humans' betrayal of them.

Then came questions concerning the state of humans since they had slept.

"Much has changed over four centuries my friends. You will not see sacrifices anymore for one."

This was met with relief. Since the humans realized that the gargoyles would not show themselves in the day, they made their sacrifices at night without worry that the gargoyles would stop their rituals.

"Tomorrow night, we will discover the changes ourselves," Cuauhtemoc said. "Demona is welcomed to join us tomorrow and in today's sleep."

Despite the invitation, Demona knew the feeling the clan leader had towards her. It was unfamiliar from what she experienced with the clans she had met in her lonely travels during her restless millennium. She was welcomed, but with reservation. She was being kept at arm's length as if she was a human! However, she was an expert in disguising her true feelings, or so she thought.

After Lily translated, Demona consented, immediately after which she thought, not without some worry, over how the awakened clan would react to hearing that she turned into a human and not stone in the day. When the blow did not come, Demona looked expectantly at Lily who ignored her by beginning to set up camp.

The clan split up, leaving two of the third generation to guard the eggs. They chatted animatedly with Lily while set up her tent, leaving Demona's pack untouched on the ground. When the ancient gargoyle began to get frustrated at Lily's lack of attention, the fay stopped her from touching her pack.

"I haven't told them your secret. So you'll have to wait for morning to set up your tent."

For a moment, Demona was relieved, then she and the third generation guards named Eztli and Nenetl soon became wrapped up in a game of translation. Eztli, the blue-green beaked male would point to an object and say the Nahuatl word for it. Then he would wait for Demona to give the English word for the same object, then Eztli's slate blue rookery sister would pick out another object after they all repeated the name of the object in the other's language.

After foraging, Cuauhtemoc watched the fire with a distant gaze, taking in the night's events. The elders checked and rechecked the eggs but rarely did anyone voice what to them seemed to be the previous night when they had been forced to leave their home. Montezuma sat in contemplative silence beside his yellow-maned protoge.

"I am glad that you returned for us," Cuauhtemoc said to Lily. "But I wonder if we still have a place to call home."

"Only you can answer that after you have seen this world," Lily answered, curling the ends of her black hair around her tan fingers.

The green leader agreed. Rising to his feet, he bid Lily a good rest. "There was a time when such magic would have laid you to rest soon after," Montezuma commented with his best poker face.

Lily stopped in the middle of toying with her hair and gave the old gargoyle an innocent look. "One learns over time, or perishes as a fool."

As the sun rose behind La Malinche, Demona struck a pose with the rest of the clan until the transformation had her doubling over. Lily watched behind a mask of objective observation until Demona was Dominique. Lily handed her a hot mug of coffee and spread out a blanket on the ground by the small fire.

There were so many questions Demona wanted to ask Lily but none of them sounded objective enough. Too much emotion was behind them. Too much longing to know what she could do or say to be accepted as more than a guest.

"How is it that you are so familiar with them?" Demona decided to ask.


	3. Chapter 3

"How is it that you are so familiar with them?" Demona decided to ask.

"Since you didn't say 'us' I'll assume you meant this clan specifically. Well, a Millennium ago father Oberon and Titania had one too many words to say to each other and it was decided that everyone needed to learn humility, among other things, so what better way to learn than from the Younger Races? So we, including myself, were sent to mingle among the mortals." Lily smoothed back the long, wavy black hair of her mortal guise and examined her nails.

"I wandered southward, away from the 'hot spots' my cousins crowded to and found a nice little nest of gargoyles. They were quite intriguing, more so when the humans interacted with them. It was a very satisfying romp indeed."

"You grew fond of them," Demona stated, taking a shot in the dark.

Lily gave Demona a look that would have rivaled Owen's most wooden one. Point for Demona.

"We will need to teach them English," Lily told the gargoyle-human as she stood up.

"Why?"

Lily rolled her black eyes exaggeratedly. "Why Demona, the Gargoyles' Gathering is less than--"

"--in four months. Adequate time to prepare a location suitable for everyone," David Xantos mused as he looked through his planner (held by Owen).

"Aye, the question of 'where' is an important first step," Hudson commented.

Goliath, Elisa, and Brooklyn mused over a world map that Owen had hung up on the wall by the glass windows.

"Home-team advantage is out," Brooklyn said, sticking a red pin over London, Ishimura, and Manhattan. Elisa found Guatemala and stuck another red pin there.

"If only there was a sure way to know that we had met all the clans," Goliath rumbled.

"At almost every place you went, you met a gargoyle clan," David pointed out to the lavender leader.

"Avalon sent us where we needed to be; as if it had a mind of its own." Goliath looked over his shoulder to Xanatos with a smirk. "Avalon travels funny that way."

David smirked and gave a small inclination of his head to Goliath. _Touche._

"Well what about somewhere in Europe? It's just a good as another state or going all the way to Japan," Elisa suggested.

Hudson shook his head. "It should be a place that all of us can relate ta' lass. It may not be home but it has that feelin'. We'll all be out of place as it is."

"It must be deserted or difficult to get to. We do not need a Quarryman raid or the like to interrupt us," Goliath added.

"Well what about a forest area?" Brooklyn asked. "All the places you and Elisa mentioned—it's quite, deserted at night, some are even protected by humans to keep humans out, and it has that homey feel to it."

"If that's what you're looking for I think I have the place," David said confidently, one hand resting on his desk. "Allow me to offer you my private retreat."

"Xanadu?" Elisa asked, recalling the location as the last place she had tried to sway her brother into leaving Xanatos' employment.

David confirmed it, glossing over what Elisa was thinking. "With a little change to the indoor décor, you should all fit comfortably."

Goliath mused over the idea for half a minute before he looked out the windows. "Dawn is upon us. We shall continue later this week," Goliath said before leaving the office with Hudson, Brooklyn, and Elisa following after.

Once alone, David asked his assistant in all casualness, "Did it sound like Goliath has plans?"

"It's possible. February 14 is just around the corner, Sir. You and Fox have a dinner reservation at Le Chateu Blanche," Owen reminded him, needlessly looking through the agenda in his good hand.

David Xanatos was about to ask Owen to phone Tiffany's when Owen's cell phone rang.

"Owen?"

Owen took the call and immediately handed it to his boss with a look of faint surprise. "It's Megan Edwards, Sir. She wishes to tell you something urgent."


	4. Chapter 4

David raised and eyebrow but took the phone nonetheless. "Yes?"

"Sorry to call so early Mr. Xanatos," Megan said on the other end, sounding sleepy herself. "If I could request something of you, could you send some flowers to Elisa Maza's apartment on behalf of Goliath. I fear he'll run into a little traffic on the 14th, but please don't mention me."

"Of course, Miss Edwards, thank you for the information. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Xanatos asked out of politeness.

"Please just call me Meagan. If you talk to my aunt when we're both present it'll be confusing. She's not married you see," the teen sorceress said in a distant voice. David was sure she would fall back asleep and not even remember that she had called. Then again, Megan was no ordinary teenager.

"I'll keep that in mind. Good night Megan." David returned Owen's cell phone and just as he did it rang again.

Owen answered and hung up quickly, returning the phone to his pocket.

"Who was it this time?" David asked him.

"Megan Edwards. She issued a challenge to the Puck," Owen told David. When David asked what it was about Owen asked to keep it private. "I would prefer to keep this...arrangement between the two of us, Sir."

David consented, letting the matter drop for the moment and moving on to the morning's agenda before his meeting with one of WVRN's people.

February 14, a..k.a. Valentine's Day

"Can't someone else be doing this?" Elisa grumbled under her breath as she dug her hands into her red bomber jacket, sulking against her car.

"Plans for tonight partner?" Matt asked with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Not at this rate," Elisa said abruptly, walking over to a gaggle of bystanders in hopes of getting a statement so her free night could begin.

Matt blinked in surprise before shrugging it off and going to talk to some of the blue boys.

Brooklyn and Lexington sighed in dismay and boredom respectively. In the past, they had never given the human holiday any importance. It was just another night stopping crime and hanging out afterwards. Now...now instead of hanging out as a trio, the trio was down to two. Broadway and Angela held hands as they took off into the night to patrol before they were free to do what they wanted. Which was to spend time together away from the clan. Away from two lonesome gargoyles.

Hudson greeted Megan on his way to the den with Bronx beside him, who stopped to have his ears scratched by Megan before moving on.

"Hello," she called out to the two rookery brothers still on their perches.

"Hi Megan," Lex greeted with a little wave. "Are you going home now?"

Megan shook her head, her short hair now growing past her shoulders and short bangs cut right above her eyebrows. It was one of those odd days that she was not dressed as usual: decked in jewelry, purple eyeshadow, and 'punk' attire (but no holes and well kept).

"I offered to stay for another hour while Owen drove Mr. Xanatos and Fox to their dinner date," she explained. "When Owen gets back I'm gone."

Brooklyn gave Megan a 'so-what' look until he caught the tone of urgency in the last sentence. "Why the hurry?"

Megan dug the toe of her converse shoes into the rock under her feet—or tried to—and said, "I made a bet with him and I don't think he's in the mood to follow through tonight."

"You made a bet with Owen?" Brooklyn asked as if she was out of her mind.

"Well, more like with Puck," Megan clarified.

"I don't think that's much better," Lex said, also bewildered by Megan's decision.

"Think you'll win?" Brooklyn asked her.

Megan shook her head. "Save me?" she asked, holding her hands together in front of her.

Brooklyn could tell that Megan was really anxious to not be around the castle when the major-domo returned and it tipped Brooklyn's boat. Megan was sure of herself even when she said she wasn't. She would get this annoying cocky attitude with him and then brush him off like nothing. They often started out with sarcastic banter and ended with one or both leaving, depending on the location of their battle. It was a cycle that grated on his nerves but at the same time, was a form of release. There had a few times that Brooklyn would feel guilty for using Megan to vent upon but the human adolescent always came back for another round and Brooklyn would forget his remorse.

Tonight, however, Megan seemed sincere in asking for help. His help. Brooklyn shook his head. He knew that voice. It was the voice that always took him down hill whenever a female was involved and after two girls and a lot of heartache later, Brooklyn started to wizen up about letting that voice take the lead.

Megan's expression fell for a moment before being composed into one of calm resignation. She feigned a smile and went back inside to tend to Alexander.

"What are you thinking?" Lex asked his brother, catching the look of conflict on his red face.

"She can handle it," Brooklyn answered automatically, wondering to himself about Megan's lack of banter. "I would not want to be in her shoes when Owen comes back. If my feet could fit into them."

Lexington chuckled. "I doubt any of us could fit into her shoes. She's so small!"


	5. Chapter 5

Megan inched her fingers across the floor onto Alex's pajama-covered leg and up towards his chin. Alex's face was already smiling as he watched Megan's fingers. They got to his stomach and he gurgled.

The fingers when back to Megan's side and then they began their walk back towards the infant. They crept closer and closer until they leaped from Alex's knee to the back of his neck and proceeded to tickle him with light fingertip touches.

Megan giggled along with Alex who scrunched forward to shield his neck, which did not shield it at all, as he cried out in laughter.

"I take it there was no trouble by the sound of laughter." Owen was back and he was standing by the door.

Megan's smile faded but stayed in place by will as she cuddled Alex into her lap. She hoped her plan would work but how was she to get him to his office? "Did you know he has a ticklish spot behind his neck?" she asked by way of answering Owen.

Owen walked towards the two in deceptive calm. "Are you in the habit of making odd phone calls before dawn?" he asked her, also refusing to answer the question posed on him.

"If you mean a few days ago, it was only for Goliath and Elisa," Megan said. "And I did apologize to Mr. Xanatos for calling so early."

"Fortunately, Mr. Xanatos was awake that early," Owen told her, an icy layer under his professionalism.

"Well that was lucky," Megan said with a hint of relief, starting to inch towards the door around Owen.

"Megan!"

Megan turned towards Brooklyn, barely masking her look of surprise.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her, fighting to keep his heaving chest under control.

"Yeah," Megan answered with a little too much enthusiasm. "Bye Alex! Good night Owen." With that, she practically ran out of the nursery with Brooklyn in tow.

"Lucky in deed," Owen commented to Alex. "Now why do you suppose she was in such a hurry?" he asked his charge with a hint of innocence in his voice.

Shrugging it off as adolescent hormones or something, Owen prepared Alex for bed.

Once Alexander was tucked in and falling asleep, Owen headed to his office. On his desk, non-too-discreetly, sat a small wrapping of home-made chocolate chip cookies on top of a gold-decorated box of assorted chocolates.

A Puckish grin crossed Owen's face as he read the hand-made Valentine's card that wished him a peaceful night so he could do some mischief.

Under the cookies, a little green sticky-note read: "I never stated exactly what the bet was, so here you are: Bet you can't eat just one. Just in case you feel up to it. --Meagan"

This was supposed to turn his insides out? This is what would make him squirm? Owen mentally shook his head at the amature prank. One day he'd show her how a real prank was done, not to mention how to pick a proper name-calling fight—wait, where had that come from?

"To think banishment from Avalon comes down to this," Owen said quietly as he opened the box of chocolates, "making bets with a kid." He popped one into his mouth. Bleh! Coconut. He picked up another one. Crème.

It only took a few minutes to coax Lexington away from his computer and take off towards Megan's house. The three landed on a rooftop nearby and waited for a couple to move on before alighting on the front steps. Once Megan opened the door, the two gargoyles slipped inside.

Now that her part of the bet was done, she actually enjoy having company over.

"You know, for being a sorceress, your house doesn't look like you live in it," Brooklyn commented.

"My aunt has friends and clients over often—during the day!" Megan told him, "so the house can't look like a haunted mansion."

"It's nice," Lexington complimented, having only seen the castle and Elisa's apartment to use as comparison.

"Thanks. Do you guys want something to drink? Soda? Juice? Hot Chocolate?" Megan offered.

"Uh, soda's fine," Brooklyn said, looking at the small tv. Small compared to the one Hudson sat in front of. It reminded him of the one Elisa had bought for them when they lived in the Clock Tower.

Lexington also opted for soda and so the three had cold cans to accompany them while they sat in the living room.

"I've got an idea." Megan suggested, "How about we play a drinking game? We'll watch a movie and for every repetition or expected response from a character, we take a drink from our sodas."

The guys agreed, interested in the new game. Megan pulled out two more sodas for each of them and selected a tape full of cartoons instead.


	6. Chapter 6

Megan inched her fingers across the floor onto Alex's pajama-covered leg and up towards his chin. Alex's face was already smiling as he watched Megan's fingers. They got to his stomach and he gurgled.

The fingers when back to Megan's side and then they began their walk back towards the infant. They crept closer and closer until they leaped from Alex's knee to the back of his neck and proceeded to tickle him with light fingertip touches.

Megan giggled along with Alex who scrunched forward to shield his neck, which did not shield it at all, as he cried out in laughter.

"I take it there was no trouble by the sound of laughter." Owen was back and he was standing by the door.

Megan's smile faded but stayed in place by will as she cuddled Alex into her lap. She hoped her plan would work but how was she to get him to his office? "Did you know he has a ticklish spot behind his neck?" she asked by way of answering Owen.

Owen walked towards the two in deceptive calm. "Are you in the habit of making odd phone calls before dawn?" he asked her, also refusing to answer the question posed on him.

"If you mean a few days ago, it was only for Goliath and Elisa," Megan said. "And I did apologize to Mr. Xanatos for calling so early."

"Fortunately, Mr. Xanatos was awake that early," Owen told her, an icy layer under his professionalism.

"Well that was lucky," Megan said with a hint of relief, starting to inch towards the door around Owen.

"Megan!"

Megan turned towards Brooklyn, barely masking her look of surprise.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her, fighting to keep his heaving chest under control.

"Yeah," Megan answered with a little too much enthusiasm. "Bye Alex! Good night Owen." With that, she practically ran out of the nursery with Brooklyn in tow.

"Lucky in deed," Owen commented to Alex. "Now why do you suppose she was in such a hurry?" he asked his charge with a hint of innocence in his voice.

Shrugging it off as adolescent hormones or something, Owen prepared Alex for bed.

Once Alexander was tucked in and falling asleep, Owen headed to his office. On his desk, non-too-discreetly, sat a small wrapping of home-made chocolate chip cookies on top of a gold-decorated box of assorted chocolates.

A Puckish grin crossed Owen's face as he read the hand-made Valentine's card that wished him a peaceful night so he could do some mischief.

Under the cookies, a little green sticky-note read: "I never stated exactly what the bet was, so here you are: Bet you can't eat just one. Just in case you feel up to it. --Meagan"

This was supposed to turn his insides out? This is what would make him squirm? Owen mentally shook his head at the amature prank. One day he'd show her how a real prank was done, not to mention how to pick a proper name-calling fight—wait, where had that come from?

"To think banishment from Avalon comes down to this," Owen said quietly as he opened the box of chocolates, "making bets with a kid." He popped one into his mouth. Bleh! Coconut. He picked up another one. Crème.

It only took a few minutes to coax Lexington away from his computer and take off towards Megan's house. The three landed on a rooftop nearby and waited for a couple to move on before alighting on the front steps. Once Megan opened the door, the two gargoyles slipped inside.

Now that her part of the bet was done, she actually enjoy having company over.

"You know, for being a sorceress, your house doesn't look like you live in it," Brooklyn commented.

"My aunt has friends and clients over often—during the day!" Megan told him, "so the house can't look like a haunted mansion."

"It's nice," Lexington complimented, having only seen the castle and Elisa's apartment to use as comparison.

"Thanks. Do you guys want something to drink? Soda? Juice? Hot Chocolate?" Megan offered.

"Uh, soda's fine," Brooklyn said, looking at the small tv. Small compared to the one Hudson sat in front of. It reminded him of the one Elisa had bought for them when they lived in the Clock Tower.

Lexington also opted for soda and so the three had cold cans to accompany them while they sat in the living room.

"I've got an idea." Megan suggested, "How about we play a drinking game? We'll watch a movie and for every repetition or expected response from a character, we take a drink from our sodas."

The guys agreed, interested in the new game. Megan pulled out two more sodas for each of them and selected a tape full of cartoons instead.


	7. Chapter 7

Over Midtown...

Goliath grumbled under his breath about annoying blue hats or robes or masks, which did not impress the Quarryman in front of him. The blue-garbed assailant charged with his hammer, intending to strike Goliath unhindered but instead collided with his buddy who had tried to sneak up on Goliath.

How they thought to do that with Tarzan-esque yells, the lavender gargoyle did not know and nor did he care. They were obviously new and Goliath was about to be late for his date. One of Brooklyn's often annoying questions popped into his head: 'Why do we still have to patrol on our free nights?'

At that moment, it was a good question. Goliath jumped to the side of a building and began climbing. The only thing that stopped him was a can connecting with his temple. He growled angrily at the two new recruits and launched himself on them. They did not get far.

Back up arrived in two large vans painted with the Quarryman symbol on the sides. If Goliath didn't know any better, he would have started to think Matt Bluestone was on the right track with his conspiracies. He just hoped Elisa would not cancel before he could finish his fight.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Elisa herself was still tying up loose ends and feeling more or less like Goliath at the moment. It was not without difficulty that Goliath was able to defeat several of the Quarrymen before he was able to escape. He led them on a chase towards the Bronx before he U-turned back towards Elisa's apartment.

As if on cue, Elisa walked into her apartment the moment Goliath landed. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Elisa walked across her living room to let him in. The unfamiliar scent of orchids greeted him from Elisa's living room table as he wondered how to explain his delay.

"Who are those from?" he inquired politely.

Elisa looked at the orchid arrangement then back to him with sudden suspicion. "Owen brought them just before I went to work. He said they were from you."

If ever there was a time when Goliath needed a save from another badly ending date, this was a time. He was surprised that Xanatos had thought to do something on his behalf but quickly began to piece together the night's events as he talked to Elisa.

"I wouldn't put it past Xanatos to come up with a scheme to get into your good graces, but even for him it's low. Not to mention the shoddy work of covering his tracks," Elisa said thoughtfully, still in detective mode.

The wheels in her head slowed down at Goliath's touch and then came to sudden stop when her brown eyes met his concerned black ones. "I had hoped to make this night one without worries," Goliath told her, holding both her small hands in his large ones.

"I know Big Guy, I thought I was going to end up on another case tonight." Elisa sighed as she looked off to a spot on her kitchen floor.

To the couple's unexpected awakening from their thoughts, the phone rang. Elisa answered and beckoned Goliath near.

"He's here, what's up Megan?" Goliath could here the teenager sigh in relief on the other end. "Hang, on I'll put you on speaker."

Megan's voice came through Elisa's phone apparatus clearly along with other voices that sounded oddly like Brooklyn and Lexington. "I have to know first, are you by any chance suspecting Xanatos of foul play?"

Elisa and Goliath traded looks before answering affirmative.

"Please don't, it's my fault. I had a vision the other night that something was going to happen to keep your night busy—I didn't know what exactly, so I asked Mr. Xanatos to send you some flowers on Goliath's behalf and to not mention me. Just a few minutes ago, I had another vision that had my alarms ringing so..."

"You decided to find out if it had to do with Xanatos and the flowers," Elisa concluded. She could almost see Megan bow her head down like a little kid that got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I'm sorry," Megan said quietly through the machine.

"Don't be," Goliath said into the machine, somewhat uncomfortably. "No harm was done and I appreciate what you tried to do."

"I thought about telling you after I called Xanatos--It was four in the morning or something and I was half asleep--but I didn't want to ruin your evening. I guess I did anyway."

"I do not know everything about magic, but the Magus back in my time would always speak of visions and Far Sight. Rarely is it clear and even to attempt to see into the future is a dangerous task. That you can see what you can is a great feat Megan. You are not responsible for what happened tonight, so do not feel guilty," Goliath told Megan.

Elisa and Goliath could faintly hear an 'I told you so' and Megan scoffing back a response before she returned to the phone. Goliath would ask Brooklyn about his night tomorrow. "Thank you Goliath. I hope the night isn't completely lost. Bye."

"Well I'd say it's not a loss," Elisa said, turning the speaker off. She began to shrug off her jacket. "What do you say to a quiet evening here, just with me?"

Goliath replied with a warm smile and lead her to the couch. "After tonight, that sounds like a perfect idea."

Elisa snuggled into his embrace, feeling his wings cover her like a velvet blanket. Within minutes, the couple dozed peacefully beside each other until the early morning.

Lexington grinned as Brooklyn handed over a folded five dollar bill. "You think he heard us there in the end?" the olive green gargoyle asked, pocketing the five.

"If I hadn't moved the phone away, most likely only a little," Megan said with a touch of annoyance.

Brooklyn glanced at the dark water bowl on the kitchen table where they had seen Elisa and Goliath talking to Megan on the phone. "Man, I can't believe I lost to you guys," he grumbled. "You'd think Goliath would still want to tear Xanatos' head off as an excuse."

"It doesn't take a genius to know that Goliath would rather spend the night with Elisa over seeing Xanatos meet with his fist," Lexington told him. "One's just more tempting than the other."

Megan giggled at that and high-fived Lex (despite the fact that he only has four digits, the meaning was the same). "So much for Mr-Expert-on-Goliath."

"You keep it quiet on your end I won't tell Goliath or Elisa that you guys set it up," Brooklyn retorted daringly.

"That's Blackmail!" Lex exclaimed with wide eyes.

"You're a sourpuss," Megan declared.

"And you've got people-watching issues," Brooklyn shot.

"Bird!" Megan shouted.

"Bean-pole!"

"Rock-for-brains!"

Lex sighed to himself to wait out the third name-calling match of the night. Fortunately, it ended before anything went flying, including spells. The two of them fought like a pair of typical human siblings and could be separated like them as well.

"Megan Elizabeth Edwards! Is that any way to speak to a guest?"

Megan cringed. Her aunt was home. Brooklyn gloated with a huge smirk on his face before wiping it away like it was never there as he stood to greet Megan's aunt. The party was over and as the gargoyles were sent home Megan signaled to Brooklyn to watch his back.

"Bring it on," he whispered at the door where Megan "saw them out".

"You guys live for discourse," Lex commented as he kept look out. "Ok, clear! 'Night Megan!"

"See ya Lex." She glared at Brooklyn until he went around the corner and out of the building. Her gray eyes softened when he was gone and the door was closed.

"You shouldn't fight with your friend like that," her aunt admonished in her light British accent. She was hanging up her coat when Megan joined her in the kitchen.

Megan's psychic sight was focused on the blue ribbon-like energy that wound about her arm. "I don't mean any of it most of the time."

"Hmm, yes but he seems to," the brunette woman said, sitting across from her niece with a hot cup of tea.

"No, he just has quite a bit of pent up energy," Megan told her. Her regular sight returned to catch her aunt's look of disapproval towards her relationship with Brooklyn.

Megan patted her hand with surety of her words,"We're just friends, Aunt Melody."

If anyone has questions about the characters, the story, or suggestions, Leave them in a review or send me an e-mail with the Subject line: 'fanfic question/suggestions' to

Thanks for reading!


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